CHAPTER 30 - COLLECTION OF CERTAIN LICENSE FEES, AND ISSUANCE OF LICENSES PLACED UNDER SUPERVISION OF TAX DEPARTMENT
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 6 OF THE REVISED CODE OF DELAWARE, 1915, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO STATE REVENUE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. That Chapter 6 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1915, as amended, be and the same is hereby further amended by adding immediately after 226. Sec. 189. thereof, a new section, to be styled 226A. Sec. 189A., as follows:
226A. Sec. 189A. On and after the first day of June, A. D. 193, the administration and enforcement of all the provisions of Chapter 6 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1915, as amended, relating to the payment of license fees and taxes, and the issuance of licenses by and through the Clerks of the Peace of the several counties of this State and the collection of license fees and taxes, and fees payable to the said Clerks of the Peace for the use of the respective counties, imposed upon the said Clerks of the Peace, are hereby vested in the State Tax Department and the State Tax Commissioner as created by and defined in Chapter 8 of Volume 36, Laws of Delaware.
The said Tax Department shall prepare all necessary forms and blanks required in the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this section with reference to the said license fees and taxes and the issuance of the said licenses and the collection of the said fees and taxes heretofore imposed upon the said Clerks of the Peace.
The said Tax Department is hereby authorized and empowered to retain out of the monies collected under the provisions of this Section such amount as the State Tax Commissioner shall deem necessary to defray the expenses of the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this Act, until such time as appropriation therefor is provided by the General Assembly.
It shall be the duty of the said Tax Department, on or before the first day of May A. D. 1935, and on or before the first day of May of each and every year thereafter, to prepare blank licenses for each business, trade, pursuit or occupation mentioned and enumerated in Sections 159, 161, 162, 166, 174, 181, 184 and 192, of Chapter 6 of the said Revised Code, as amended, in such form as the said Tax Department shall deem proper. The said licenses shall be signed by the signature or by the facsimile signature of the said Tax Commissioner and shall each bear the date of issue and shall expire each year on the first day of June following the date of issue. The said Tax Department shall keep a record of the same and shall send to the Auditor of Accounts, on or before the second Tuesday of each and every month, a statement of all licenses issued during the next preceding calendar month. The said Auditor of Accounts shall keep an account, in the books of his office, of all blank licenses issued by the said Tax Department in pursuance of the provisions of this Section; and all the provisions of Chapter 16 of the said Revised Code, as amended, relative to the duties and powers of the Auditor of Accounts in settling the accounts of the several Clerks of the Peace, shall apply with equal force and effect to the said Tax Department relative to the licenses in this Section mentioned, and in the Sections herein referred to, and, in the enforcement of such settlement, shall extend to and be applied to the licenses and fees to the State therefor which the said Tax Department is by this Section, and by Sections 159, 161, 162, 167, 174, 182, 185 and 192, of Chapter 6 of the said Revised Code, as amended, authorized and required to issue and collect.
The said Tax Department shall, on or before the second Tuesday of each and every month, or more frequently if the said Tax Department shall desire, plainly state, under the hand of the said Tax Commissioner, a full and true account of all money by the said Tax Department received, or for which said Tax Department is accountable, for fees and taxes for the use of the State, for all licenses issued by the said Tax Department under the provisions of this Section, and under the provisions of Sections 159, 161, 162, 167, 174, 182, 185 and 192, of Chapter 6 of the said Revised Code, as amended, during the next preceding calendar month, and shall deposit to the credit of the State Treasurer, in the Farmers Bank of the State of Delaware, at Wilmington, or at Dover, or at Georgetown, the full amount due on such account, or in such portion or portions thereof at any of said places as the said Tax Department shall be most convenient, and send such account to the State Treasurer with a certificate of such deposit or deposits endorsed thereon.
A failure to state such account and make such deposit within the time prescribed shall, besides making the State Tax Commissioner liable for money due the State, be a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by any court of competent jurisdiction, he shall forfeit and pay a fine not in excess of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or be imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the Court. The condition of the bond of the said Tax Commissioner, as required by law, shall extend to and cover all the monies collected by the said Tax Department under the provisions of this Section and Sections 159, 161, 162, 166, 174, 182, 185 and 192 of Chapter 6 of the said Revised Code, as amended, and to each and all of the duties herein and therein required of him, and every failure to make such account and/or deposit, within the time prescribed, with certificate of deposit endorsed thereon, duly forwarded to the State Treasurer, shall constitute a breach of the conditions of the said bond.
It shall be the duty of every Justice of the Peace, Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff and Constable, within their respective counties, whenever he shall have knowledge that any individual, co-partnership, firm or corporation, or any other association of persons acting as a unit, is or are engaged in, prosecuting, following or carrying on, or practicing or conducting any business, trade, pursuit, or occupation mentioned and enumerated in Sections 159, 161, 162, 166, 174, 181, 184 and 192, of Chapter 6 of the said Revised Code, as amended, without having first obtained a license therefor as required in and by the fast named sections of Chapter 6 of the said Revised Code, as amended, or any of them, to make complaint or cause complaint to be made thereof, to the said Tax Department and/or the Collector of State Revenue, who shall thereupon proceed according to the provisions of Chapter 6 of the said Revised Code, as amended, relative thereto, and the jurisdiction of said Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, Deputy Sheriffs and Constables relative to misdemeanors and offenses shall extend and apply to misdemeanors and offenses created by this Section and by Sections 160, 161 and 186 of Chapter 6 of the said Revised Code, as amended, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent herewith. Every individual, co-partnership, firm or corporation, or any other association of persons acting as a unit, engaged in prosecuting, following, or carrying on, or practicing or conthfcting any business, trade, pursuit or occupation mentioned and enumerated in Sections 159, 161, 162, 166, 174, 181, 184, and 192 of Chapter 6 of the said Revised Code, as amended, shall on demand of any officer of the said Tax Department, the Collector of State Revenue, any Justice of the Peace, Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff, or Constable, or on demand of any citizen of this State, produce the license therefor, and unless he, she or they shall so do, it shall be presumptive evidence that he, she or they, as the case may be, has or have no license.
Any Justice of the Peace, Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff, or Constable, who shall neglect or refuse to perform the duty required of him, as in this Section provided, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof by any court of competent jurisdiction, shall be fined in the discretion of the Court.
Any public officer, who, having made an arrest under the provisions of this Section, shall accept or receive any money, or reward of any kind, as a condition of releasing the person arrested without prosecution, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not exceeding One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or imprisoned for a term not exceeding twenty days, or shall be punished by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
Section 2. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this Act, and particularly Sections 237 of Chapter 6 of the said Revised Code, as amended by Section 45 B., of Chapter 72 of Volume 29, Laws of Delaware, and Chapter 80 of Volume 33, Laws of Delaware, and Section 16 of Chapter 79 of Volume 28, Laws of Delaware, and also sections 5, 7, 8, 13 and 14 of Chapter 47 of the said Revised Code, as amended, are hereby repealed to the extent of and only to the extent of any such inconsistency.
Approved, April 8, 1935.
